There has been a recognition among golf bag designers that a bag arrangement permitting quick club selection and overall ease of bag use are features sought after by golfers. Such designers have approached the problem in varying ways--and with varying degrees of success.
An example of one approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,382 (Palmer et al.). The arrangement shown therein involves clubs, each having a shortened shaft to which is attached a detachable portion when that particular club is selected for use. The "stubbed" clubs are carried in three rows of tube-like receptacles having progressively greater lengths and arranged to form a stepped configuration. When the clubs are installed, their heads will be at different levels for, it is said, "easy selection." None of the receptacles are identified to a particular club and there is no apparent provision for woods. The bag has a somewhat triangular shape when unzipped ready for use and a carrying strap is attached at the "apex" of the triangle.
Another approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,938,559 (Harkrader) which relates to a club holder insert for a golf bag. The insert appears to be a rigid structure and has multiple holes arranged in three rows. Each hole is intended to receive the shaft of a particular club. While the holes are so identified, the "pattern" of identification is distinctly other than orderly and, in fact, seems rather random. It is likely that such club identification arrangement would take a good deal of "getting used to" and even then may not be intuitive.
Still another approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,047,079 (MacMurray) and involves a golf "bag" or club rack of rigid construction. The exterior surfaces are "corrugated," thereby presenting a rough, hard surface to the user's body as the bag is carried. The rack is triangular in shape and has a shoulder strap attached at the apex. Interestingly, the pouches (presumably for a coat, umbrella or the like) are inconveniently inside the bag rather than outside. The tubular containers are not identified to a particular club.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,860,679 (Kouke) shows a rigid rack to be inserted into a golf bag. The rack has plural openings to receive the shafts of clubs. Only one of them, the putter, is identified to a particular club, because of its asserted oval handle shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,299 (Clark et al.) shows a rigid polyethylene golf club bag intended (apparently) only for carrying by cart. U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,283 (Rader) shows a round golf bag assembly having a plate with plural apertures. Bags with round bottom surfaces tend to be somewhat unstable when stood on end. The plate is "stepped" to accommodate clubs having shafts of various lengths. None of the apertures are identified to a particular club. Other golf bag arrangements are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,559,981 (McBride); 1,939,488 (Dent et al.) and 2,749,958 (Innes).
The golf bag arrangements shown in the foregoing patents have been generally satisfactory but nevertheless are attended by certain disadvantages. One disadvantage is that with the exception of the bag shown in the Harkrader patent, there are no location "identifiers" for particular clubs. And the identifiers shown in the Harkrader patent (together with the accompanying holes) are arranged in what may be said to be a rather random, disorderly way that is difficult to "memorize" and use. Other bags, like those shown in the MacMurray and Clark et al. patents have hard outer surfaces and that of MacMurray is rough, as well.
And certain of the bags do not well accommodate the needs of golfer using hand-pulled carts. Such carts often have a V-shaped space for receiving the bag. The apex of a triangular bag should be devoid of straps and the like to fit well against the stem of the cart. While the bags of the MacMurray, Dent et al. and Palmer et al. patents are somewhat V-shaped, their apexes are obstructed by straps. Thus, they do not fit well into such carts--and when they are so mounted, the straps are inaccessible.
An improved golf bag which overcomes such disadvantages would be an important advance in the art.